


Disappeared

by marinaalexis



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:22:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26818771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marinaalexis/pseuds/marinaalexis
Summary: "I'd love to stay, Hanna, but I can't. Not while that psychopath is still out there." It had been one day since A's return. Less than twenty-four hours, and already Alison was plotting her escape. {AU in which Alison follows through on leaving Rosewood again after A's return}
Relationships: Alison DiLaurentis/Emily Fields, Emily Fields/Paige McCullers, Ezra Fitz/Aria Montgomery, Hanna Marin/Caleb Rivers, Mike Montgomery/Mona Vanderwaal, Toby Cavanaugh/Spencer Hastings
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	Disappeared

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated, and give me the motivation to continue writing!

Chapter One

"I've made my decision, Hanna."

Although they were Alison's words, it was Hanna, in that moment, who had to make a choice of her own. Her former best friend and worst enemy's previous words rang in her ears: _I'd love to stay, Hanna, but I can't. Not while that psychopath is still out there._

It had been one day since A's return. Less than twenty-four hours, and already Alison was plotting her escape. It was almost impossible for Hanna to wrap her head around, after over a year in her own version of hell. She and her friends had suffered through more horrors than she'd ever thought possible, but not once had the idea of running away, of leaving Emily, Aria, and Spencer behind, so much as occurred to her.

And yet it seemed as if it was Alison's very first thought.

Hanna took a deep breath and met Alison's steely gaze.

_It used to be a little easier to tell us apart, wasn't it?_

_You can go back to focusing on your little love triangle._

Hanna didn't have to make a choice. Alison had made it for her.

She took a step closer and reached for Ali's hand. "So have I. I'm gonna help you."

Alison stiffened. Her eyes flitted to their hands, clasped together. There was no change to her expression except a barely noticeable glint in her eyes. "Why?"

"We brought you back here because we thought it would keep you safe," Hanna said, swallowing down the burning feeling of bile that threatened to rise in her throat. "But now that A's back, I'm starting to think you're right. You shouldn't stay here."

"You can't tell the others," Alison insisted. Her voice was shaking. Hanna felt a glimmer of sympathy, but forced herself to shove it down deep. There was no going back now. "You heard them earlier today. They wouldn't understand why I have to do this."

"I get it," Hanna assured her, although her stomach twisted. Everything always came down to secrets with Alison. Secrets upon secrets. "We'll keep it between us."

…

It took less than an hour for Hanna to fill a bag with clothes while Alison worked out the travel details. For a girl who had always valued clothes more than she did some people, it was surprisingly easy for Hanna to part with a pile of distressed jeans, a few pairs of shoes, and shirts for all seasons. She even threw in a jacket or two, just in case. _It's a good deed,_ she told herself as she forced the duffel bag closed. _Definitely not so Ali doesn't have a reason to come back._

She was just pulling the zipper when Alison rushed in. Her eyes landed immediately on the stuffed bag. "Hanna, you don't need to give me this much."

Hanna noted bitterly that Alison didn't outright reject the clothes altogether. The closer they came to her departure, the more annoyed she became by every word out of Ali's mouth, every change in her expression. "Ali, it'll be a little obvious if you walk out of your house with a garbage bag of clothes."

Alison's shoulders slumped. "Yeah. You're right. I just wish I could say goodbye to my dad before I leave."

"You can't," Hanna blurted, barely thinking. Alison taking the time to go home would just cause a delay in the plan. It would add a whole separate variable, a whole new set of possible obstacles. What if Ali couldn't bring herself to go through with it after seeing her father? What if A knew what she and Hanna were planning, and took the opportunity, Ali potentially alone in her house, to strike? Hanna wondered what it said about her that she was more concerned about a possible A attack preventing Alison from leaving than about it causing her harm.

Alison was watching her, her gaze curious and maybe, just maybe, a bit suspicious. Hanna tried to reel back the urgency in her voice. "Your dad can't have any idea that you're leaving. The less people who know, the better."

A moment of silence passed, and then another. Hanna fully expected Alison's eyes to narrow as the realization of Hanna's real motivations finally occurred to her. But then Ali sighed. "I know. And it might put him at risk, too. I'm just feeling all kinds of déjà vu right now."

There was that annoying stab of sympathy again. How was it that Alison, after all that she'd said and done, after the lies that she'd dragged them all into and the games that she insisted on playing, could still manage to make Hanna see her as the victim?

"So," she stammered, trying to get back on track, "where am I taking you?"

"Suburban Station, in Philly." Alison reached into her pocket and flashed a thin train ticket. "The train to Trenton leaves at eight. I'll regroup there and figure out where to go next." Suddenly she froze, her eyes growing wide. "Shit."

Hanna's heart dropped like a stone into her stomach. "What?"

"The money." Alison turned toward the door and then whirled back to face Hanna, as if being tugged in two directions. "And the IDs. I can't leave without them."

Hanna closed her eyes and tried to force down the anger that was bubbling in her chest. She should have known that this wouldn't be as easy as it seemed. "Where are they?"

"In my room. I told you, I have hiding places. God, I have to go home. There's no way I can manage without the rest of that money." Ali stuffed the train ticket back in her pocket. "Okay, I'll run back for it, it shouldn't take long. We can meet at – "

"Wait." Hanna's heart thumped hard in her chest. "You stay here, where it's safe. I'll go to your house. Just tell me what you need and where you hid it."

…

Ten minutes later, Hanna eased the front door to Alison's house closed behind her. The house was bathed in darkness, not even a single table lamp on to illuminate the living room. "Hello?" she called shakily, half expecting a shadow to race past along the wall. "Mr. D? Jason?"

Nothing. Hanna groped along the wall for a light switch, beginning to wish that she'd let Alison do this herself after all. _Secret compartment in the drawer, and under the birdcage,_ she repeated to herself, like a mantra. Her skin itched with anticipation. The faster she could find Ali's hiding places and gather up the money and fake IDs, the sooner she could get the hell out of this house – and get Alison the hell out of Rosewood.

"Dammit," Hanna hissed, her hip bumping against an end table. "Where's the freaking light switch?"

A loud creak stopped her in her tracks. Her blood turned to ice. "Hello? Is someone there?"

Another moment, and there it was again, another creak of weight against the wooden floor, but softer this time, like someone trying to make an effort to be quiet. Hanna fumbled toward the door. Screw the money, and Ali's stupid fake IDs. She was getting out of here.

Just as her hand was reaching for the doorknob, something hard and solid connected with the center of Hanna's back. Pain radiated up her spine, and she was flung forward with a surprised cry. She hit the ground, the wooden floor of the entryway cold against her cheek. Hanna's throat constricted. She groaned and was scrambling to get leverage, to push herself to her feet, when hands gripped her shoulders and shoved her back down.

Out of her corner of her eye, Hanna caught sight of the sleeve of a black hoodie. A scream rose in her throat. She'd been right. A had been here, for who knows how long, waiting for her. No, Hanna corrected herself through her increasingly foggy brain. Waiting for _Alison._

Hanna rolled onto her side and shoved her elbow back into the side of her attacker. In the brief moment that they flinched away, she shot forward, crawling desperately toward the living room. If she could just get to the kitchen, she could escape out the back door.

But A was on her before she'd fully formulated the thought. Another body connected with hers, and gloved hands wrapped around her throat and squeezed. Hanna's breath left her in one horrible, painful gasp. She struggled, bucking against A's hold, but their grip was too strong. She wrapped her hands around A's smooth leather gloves and dug in, but no matter how hard she pried, their grasp wouldn't loosen.

Black spots appeared in Hanna's eyes. Her head felt woozy, like she'd held her breath under water for a few seconds too long. Was this really going to be it, after everything? Was going along with Alison's plan, one last time, going to be what did her in? It would have been funny if it wasn't her reality.

And then, dimly through her fog and the sound of her choked pleas, Hanna could just make out the sound of footsteps, just outside the door. The body behind her froze. The hands around her neck loosened. And in a flash, before Hanna had even recognized more than the sound of the front door clicking open, A was gone.

Hanna collapsed to the ground, vaguely aware of a black-clad figure vanishing into the kitchen. The sound of the back door slamming closed was simultaneous with the front door opening. _Jason? Mr. DiLaurentis?_ Hanna couldn't bring herself to so much as turn her head to look.

But when she heard a scream, followed by a frantic voice, it was the last person she would have expected. "Oh my god, Hanna!"

Hanna groaned and finally rolled her head to the right just as Alison dropped to her knees beside her. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she took in Hanna, limp on the ground. "What happened?"

"It was A," Hanna rasped, every word more painful than the last. She pointed weakly in the direction of the back door. Even the slightest movement sent pain ricocheting through her body. She suddenly realized that Mona wasn't being dramatic a few weeks back, after she'd been choked in her car. This really was the worst pain she'd been in since she rolled over that car.

Alison reeled back. "A was _here?_ " Hanna nodded mutely. She could still feel the pressure of those hands wrapped around her neck. The urge to gag overpowered her, but she swallowed hard and forced it down. She wouldn't. Not in front of Alison.

"God, Han, I'm so sorry." Before Hanna could react, Alison threw her arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I knew I shouldn't have let you do this."

Hanna tried to relax, hyper aware of how stiff she felt in Ali's embrace. As much as the concern in Alison's eyes seemed genuine, something about this felt unnatural, like a scene in color placed in the middle of a black and white movie. It definitely wasn't helping Hanna feel any less disoriented.

"Forget about the money," Ali said, standing and helping Hanna to her feet. "Let's get out of here before A tries again." She wrapped an arm around Hanna's shoulders and led her to the door.

As they stepped into the chilly evening air, Hanna rubbed again at her throat. The black spots were just now fading from her vision. "We should leave soon. You're gonna miss your train."

Alison shook her head adamantly. "You're in no condition to drive me anywhere, Hanna. I'll take you home, and then I'll get Noel to give me a ride to the station."

As Hanna slid unsteadily into the passenger seat of her car, she realized just what, exactly, was so disorienting about all of this. If it had been Spencer who found her, almost choked to death by A, she would have examined Hanna's bruises with a critical eye, than pulled out a rom-com for them to watch together. Aria would have ranted about A's escalating antics as she put on a pot of water for tea. And Emily would have cleared her entire schedule to sleep over and make sure Hanna was safe overnight.

All Hanna had wanted, all day – hell, all week – was for Alison to book that train ticket and take the first bus out of town. And she still did. But part of her, buried deep underneath the resentment and bitterness and bad memories, just wanted Alison to turn to her and announce that she would never dream of leaving Rosewood after something so horrible had just happened to one of her best friends.

Instead, she clicked her seatbelt into place and cast a surreptitious glance into the backseat. Hanna followed her gaze. The duffel bag, stuffed full of Hanna's clothes, was tucked into the backseat. Ali had brought it with her.

"We'd better get going," Alison said, and the sad smile that she offered Hanna didn't quite reach her eyes.

…

Noel picked Alison up at six thirty, after half an hour of pacing and nervous glances out of Hanna's front window. As his car idled outside, the two girls stood awkwardly on the front steps. Hanna's throat still throbbed. Alison heaved the duffel bag over her shoulder.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing you're going," Hanna said. The words came out raw and scratchy. She hoped her vocal cords healed overnight, before she had to come up with an explanation for her mom and friends. "Before A does to you what they tried to do to me."

"You know I wish I could stay," Alison replied, and Hanna detected a note of actual sincerity in her tone. "But I just can't take the risk."

_You mean the risk that the rest of us have taken every day for two years?_ Hanna wanted to snap back, but it wasn't worth it. In just a few minutes, Ali would be gone. There was no point in making their final goodbye any more uncomfortable than it already was.

"I'd tell you to say goodbye to Aria, Em, and Spencer for me," Ali went on, "but you probably don't want them to know you helped me do this, huh?"

Hanna flinched. It almost sounded like Alison was making an accusation. "They'll be pissed when they figure out you ran away again. Especially Emily."

Alison's face fell, but she shrugged. "I have to do what's best for me. They'll understand." She suddenly reached out, pulling Hanna into the same kind of crushing hug as in her living room. "I hope this isn't really goodbye."

Hanna forced herself to return the hug, with the mental reminder that as conflicted as her feelings toward Alison were, she was still saying farewell to the first person she'd ever considered her best friend. No matter what had happened between them since then, that had to count for something. "Just promise you'll be careful."

"I will." Alison pulled away. The slightest hint of tears glimmered in her eyes. "You too, okay?"

And with one last squeeze of Hanna's arm, she was gone, rushing across the yard and into Noel's car. He smirked out the window in Hanna's direction before the car screeched away from the curb and out of sight.

Hanna stared at the corner where the car had turned for what felt like hours, a mixture of relief, guilt, and just a tad of regret swirling through her head. Had she actually done the right thing? What if A somehow managed to get to Alison? Hanna may have wanted her gone, but she certainly didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

_Alison survived on her own for more than two years,_ she reminded herself sternly, jumping a little as her phone buzzed in her pocket. _She can do it again._

She pulled out her cell, expecting a text from Emily, wondering if she'd heard from Alison. Or maybe from Travis, with more questions about what had happened at Lucas' party. She wasn't sure which she was dreading more.

But as soon as she read the message on the screen, she would have given anything to have either one of those uncomfortable conversations.

_Big mistake, Hanna-kins. Be careful, or you might be the next one to vanish into the night. –A_


End file.
